Leisure and Cultural Services Department - Conditions of Use for Leisure Facilities Brand Hong Kong - Asia's world city
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Conditions of Use of Leisure and Cultural Services Department(LCSD)
Recreation and Sports Facilities
General Conditions
1. All hirers/users must observe the Pleasure Grounds Regulation, and any direction given by the management staff of the facilities.
2. The hirer must be one of the players using facilities. The hirer must produce the valid permit/approval letter for verification and registration before using the facilities. The permit/approval letter is not transferable.
3. The booked facilities will only be used for the designated function of the facilities, unless with prior approval of the management. If any applicant wishes to use the facility for any other activity, the applicant should seek advice and agreement from the venue management before making the booking. The management may not permit such other use on the spot by the hirer if without prior agreement.
4. All players must wear appropriate attire, footwear, use appropriate equipment, protective gears as necessary and observe all safety rules and conditions of the sport/activity.
5. Players may be required to produce their identification document (ie. identity cards, passports, re-entry permits, and student cards bearing a photograph of the card holder) and recognized qualification (if necessary) for verification at the check-in counter before entering the facilities and during the booked session on the day of play.
6. Eating and drinking shall not be permitted inside the playing areas. Smoking is strictly prohibited inside the sports facilities.
7. All players must leave the playing area when their booked session/hour is over. All hired/borrowed equipment should be returned at the same time.
8. If an organization, having booked a session, fails to turn up or fully utilize the facilities without satisfactory explanation, LCSD reserves the right to refuse to accept further bookings.
9. Recreation and sports facilities will be closed on the issue of tropical cyclone signal No. 8. The management may also exercise discretion to close the facilities when, in its opinion, that the facilities are unsuitable for use from safety or operation point of view.
10. Concessionary rates are granted for senior citizens aged 60 and over, full-time students, people with a disability. If any person(s) is found not entitled to the enjoyment of concessionary rate after such payments has been made, he/she will be required to make up the amount underpaid immediately. Otherwise, all the players will be required to leave the facility.
11. Hirers/users enjoying concessionary rates may be required to produce proof of identity e.g. student card, registration card for people with a disability, Senior Citizen card issued by SWD or identity card for checking.
12. In order to enjoy concessionary rates in the use of facilities, the hirer and all his partner(s) should respectively be users eligible for concessions of the booked session(s).
13. No distinction should be made between local and overseas individual in granting the concessions. Both local and overseas individual of the specific categories are eligible for the same concession.
14. Overseas schools and subvented non-governmental or disabled organizations are not eligible for the concession.
15. Minders accompanying persons with a disability should also be entitled to the concessionary rate and the maximum ratio be fixed at 1:1.
16. Under normal circumstances, application from a hirer to transfer a confirmed booking to a different time will be deemed to be a cancellation and the fees paid will be forfeited.
17. If a confirmed booking has to be cancelled by the management owing to inclement weather or any unforeseen circumstances in accordance with Condition 9, the hirer may apply for reallocation or refund of the unused time of the session within 30 days, inclusive of the day of the original booking. However, the management does not guarantee the availability of any suitable session for reallocation, for reasons including but not limited to scheduled maintenance works, prevailing booking situations of the facility or any other circumstances. In such case, refund of hire charge will be arranged.
18. The hirer shall be responsible to meet the cost of repairing any damage caused to the facility, and of repairing or reinstating or replacing any equipment, apparatus, fitting, or other property damaged or destroyed (fair wear and tear excepted), stolen or removed during the use of the facility.
19. All injuries to participants or any other party, as well as damage to the facility, must be reported to the management immediately.
20. Except with the written approval of LCSD, the applicants, being either the sole or joint organizer of an event, shall be responsible for all the administrative work of the events including recruitment, enrollment, publicity, fee collection, employment of staff etc., in order to enjoy priority of booking.
21. The hirer shall indemnify and keep indemnified LCSD against all actions, claims, and demands by any person who suffers or sustains any death, injury, loss or damage arising out of or as a result of the use of the recreation and sports facility by the hirer or any person so authorized by him due to the negligence on his part or on the part of such authorized person.
22. On management discretion of the Department, free use of vacant facility for the booked type of use that is paid for but not taken up by the original hirer 10 minutes after the starting time may be arranged for registered users, on condition that there is no other vacant facility available for booking at the same time. The free user(s) have to surrender the facility back to the original hirer immediately upon arrival of the original hirer. Persons who wish to make use of such facility should approach the booking counter on the spot for free use on a first-come-first-served basis. Registration for use of these temporarily vacant facilities, if any, will commence after the start of each hour/session. Priority of free use of the vacant facility will be given to persons who have not booked or used a session of such facility on that day. Venue manager/duty officer in-charge may cancel/suspend such free use arrangement at any time if there is suspected abuse of such free use by any person, including unauthorized transfer/sale of the use, as may be determined by the venue manager/duty officer in-charge on the spot.
23. LCSD may refuse any person from using the facility if he/she does not observe the Conditions of Use or remove any person from the facility if he/she is in breach of the Pleasure Grounds Regulation or other regulations in force. In such event, the booking will be cancelled automatically and the paid fees forfeited.
24. For uses involving temporary structure (other than those provided by the venue), public admission and of high risk nature, DLM/venue manager may require the hirer to take out suitable insurance coverage to protect the interests of both the hirer and the government. The prevailing level of indemnity set by LCSD shall be applied to meet the scale/nature of the use/event.
25. For events involving overseas teams (including those from the Mainland), the applicant should consult the governing sports body, viz. the National Sports Association, for advice/agreement on the proposed use according to the practice of international sporting events to ensure that these events comply with the requirement of the governing sports body for the safety sake of the athletes and the spectators.
26. The hirer shall not make, publish, display or disseminate event related publicity materials that contain false, biased, misleading or deceptive information. The hirer shall not expressly or by implication make reference to the Department in any of the publicity materials without prior written permission of the Department. The hirer shall indemnify and keep indemnified the Department and the Government and their servants and agents against all claims, demands, actions or proceedings arising from any breach or non-observance of this provision.
27. Individual use of the facilities will only be allowed for personal recreational purpose. Under no circumstances should the hirer arrange any public admission during the use into the booked facility as spectators, or participants of the use, without the prior approval of the management.
28. On the basis of the nature of use/activity of the hirer, the management may stipulate any maximum user capacity of the booked facility on ground of public safety and management consideration.
29. LCSD reserves the right to reject/cancel the booking without prior notice to the applicant/hirer and also to restrict the number of users and/or spectators entering the venue or to refuse entry of any persons upon health grounds or other reasons and/or impose further conditions for the use of recreation and sports facilities.
Other Conditions Applicable to Specific Facilities
Indoor and Outdoor Climbing Wall
30. Overseas certificates should be verified by the relevant National Sports Associations (NSAs) in Hong Kong to be arranged by the hirers/users before using the facility.
31. All users of the climbing walls must inspect their equipment and safety gear prior to use.
32. The hirers/users are advised to take every precaution to ensure safety and that all safety equipment and procedures comply with the standards of the NSA.
33. Only one user is allowed to climb on each lane of the outdoor climbing wall at a time. He/she should always be assisted by one other user as belayer for sake of safety.
34. For individual use, only person holding a recognised and valid sport climbing training level 2 certificate or above issued by the NSAs, and accompanied by other person(s) with equivalent qualification or above may use the climbing walls.
35. For group use of the climbing walls (a maximum of six users within the safety mat area are allowed for each lane for outdoor climbing wall and a maximum of 20 users are allowed for an indoor climbing room at any one time), any user not holding a recognised and valid sport climbing training level 2 certificate or above issued by the NSAs should be accompanied by at least two other persons, one of whom must hold a sport climbing training level 2 certificate and the other one must hold a valid coach/instructor card.
36. For outdoor climbing wall, the capacity of group uses for holding fun days or demonstrations, etc. generally for familiarization of the sport, can be relaxed by the Department to accommodate 12 users per lane and up to a maximum of 48 users for four lanes for such fun days or demonstrations organized by the same hirer. It should still be subject to a maximum of six users for each lane to be permitted to stay within the safety mat area at any time of use. The other users should stay outside the safety mat area for sake of user safety.
37. Users are not allowed to change the route settings without prior permission from the management. Any change to the route settings must be carried out by qualified persons recommended/endorsed by NSAs. Any altered route settings must be reinstated to its original state within the booked session.
Indoor and Outdoor Golfing Facilities
38. Overseas certificates should be verified by the relevant National Sports Associations (NSAs) in Hong Kong.
39. Children under the age of 5 are not allowed to enter the golf driving range/practice green unless approval is obtained from the venue management. Children between the age of 5 and 12 are not allowed to enter the golf driving range/practice green unless they are accompanied by an adult.
40. For the use of practice green at Indoor Golf Facilities, ONE of the users, while at Outdoor Golf Facilities, ALL the users must -
  1. possess a Practice Green User Card issued by LCSD; or
  2. be a member of the Hong Kong Professional Golfers' Association or equivalent; or
  3. have an Official Handicap issued by the Hong Kong Golf Association or equivalent.
41. During group training, the instructor must be a member of the Hong Kong Professional Golfers' Association or equivalent. The ratio of instructor to trainees should not exceed 1:6 unless permission is obtained from the Department.
Fitness Room
42. Fitness rooms in recreation and sports venues not exclusively booked by hirers are available for shared use by qualified users aged 15 or above who have registered as User of Fitness Rooms under LCSD. These qualified users include:
  1. participants of the "Briefing on Proper Ways to Use Fitness Equipment" who have passed the assessment organised by LCSD;
  2. participants of "Fitness (Multi-gym) Training Course" organised by LCSD from May 2006 onwards who have attained 80% or above attendance rates;
  3. holders of LCSD Fitness Gold Card; and
  4. holders of equivalent qualifications recognized by the Physical Fitness Association of Hong Kong, China.
43. Users of fitness rooms are required to complete a "Physical Activities Readiness Questionnaire - Par-Q & You" (Par-Q & You) form on annual basis as undertaking to confirm his/her health condition being fit for using the fitness equipment. For users aged below 18, the "Par-Q & You" should be signed by their parents/guardians. The "Par-Q & You" is valid for one year from the date it is completed. If there is "Yes" on one or more questions on the "Par-Q & You", the users should consult doctor and follow his/her advice prior to using fitness equipment. For users aged 70 or above, they should complete the "Declaration form for participants aged 70 or above" every time prior to their use of fitness equipment.
44. For exclusive use of the fitness room, one of the users must be a qualified coach holding a certificate of Resistance Training Instructor.
45. Schools may book for exclusive use of the fitness room to organise fitness activities for the students under the supervision of a PE teacher.
Dance Room / Activity Room / Games Room
46. For block booking of dance rooms, the minimum number of user is six persons at any one time for each room.
47. Due to the multi-use nature and for sake of management consideration, the applicant for use of Activity Room should consult the venue management for agreement on the proposed activity which is of high risk nature with safety implications (e.g. free fight or contact sports, etc.), involving possible damage of facility and setting up of any temporary structure, etc, before making any booking. Failing such, the management may cancel the booking and/or suspend the use, and may invoke the provisions under Condition 23 and 29.
Bowling Greens
48. Only players are allowed to play or remain on the green. A maximum of eight players per rink are permitted to play or remain on the green at any time.
49. Players must wear unsoiled, smooth-soled and heelless footwear on the green.
50. Players should not drop or dump the bowl on the surface of the green.
51. Players should not bowl from one position all the time. The mat should be moved up and down the length of the green during play in order to reduce wearing of the green.
American Pool Facilities
52. A maximum of six players will be allowed for each American Pool table at any one time.
 
2003| Important notices| Privacy policy Last revision date: 1 June, 2006